Ready to bottle my 9.6% ABV ale made with 3787 yeast. We under pitched and didn't aerate well, but went from 1.088 to 1.14 with higher temp fermentation in 4 weeks. My question is: I think this yeast is pretty beat down and am considering adding some slurry starter I harvested But how much? Instill plan to add some corn sugar, but am lost trying to find info or calculations for this. Any help would be appreciated. I don't want to over carb.
Bottling 3787 Ale ?
- Thread starter LAXflyguy
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in the process of re-reading "brew like a monk". with a 1.088 o.g., the monks who created that yeast usually go for 1.014 to 1.018 fg
Generally, reyeasting with 1/10 the amount of yeast used in the initial pitch is a good baseline to work from, according to BLAM. This is usually after a short lagering period, or sometimes centrifuging, so I don't know if it would affect anything if you're not doing one of those. Assuming you have more yeast in solution than these breweries at bottling time, I'd guess going a little less than 10% of the initial pitch (by approximate cell count) would be best.
beergolf
Well-Known Member
There really is no need to add extra yeast at bottling time. I often leave my Belgians in the fermenter for a lot longer than 4 weeks, and they all carb up just fine. I recently did a tripel that came out to 11% and it carbed up just fine.
Adding extra yeast at bottling time has nothing to do with overcarbing. The yeast only can eat the fermentable sugars, once they are gone, extra yeast will not cause overcarbonation. The yeast just drops out when the food is gone.
I use 3787 a lot, and the one thing to watch out for is to make 100% sure that it is done. I have noticed that with this yeast, you may think it is done, then it will drop a few more points. I give brews using this yeast more than a few days between gravity checks to make sure that it is done.
You're right, there is generally no need to reyeast, but I've done it both ways and my bottles generally carbonate faster when reyeasting. If it causes any problems, I've yet to experience any, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
I will agree 3787 is very slow at the end. I don't use this yeast too often anymore, but after gravity mostly settles, it strikes me as a good idea to rack it, give it another couple of weeks, and make sure it's completely done.
I will agree 3787 is very slow at the end. I don't use this yeast too often anymore, but after gravity mostly settles, it strikes me as a good idea to rack it, give it another couple of weeks, and make sure it's completely done.
I know this was posted a long time ago but I'm hoping you're still on the thread. How long does it take your Belgians to carb up? My quad is at 12% and was in primary and secondary for 3 months. So far it's been in my bottles for several weeks and didn't even have a "psh" when I opened it. I pitched fresh 3787 (different from my primary strain) with my sugar at bottling. Just curious of your timeline.
I know I'm not the brewer you directed this at, but that level of alcohol and time may well have killed off most all the yeast. I've had less extreme cases that took up to 2 months to fully carb, before I started adding bottling yeast for all big beers. Maybe you can give it a few more weeks and check again.
Buy a $1 pack of dry champagne yeast. If you never get any carbonation out of this batch, rehydrate the yeast, sanitize a pipette, drop a few drops into each bottle and recap. With a little luck, this will work just fine.
beergolf
Well-Known Member
At 12% it is going to take a time to carb up, even with your adding yeast at bottling. But, a Belgian that big takes time to age and taste good anyway. So just set it aside and let it go for a couple,of months. For a 12% beer I usually find at least 4 months is good. YOu cannot rush a beer like that.
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